The New Queen Rises
by Happy-Abby289
Summary: With her father dead and Atlantica in ruins, it's up to Ariel to take the lead and find a new home for her subjects. At the same time, she has to find a way to keep her sister on the throne of the new foundation of Mermista.
1. Introduction

p style="text-align: center;"Introduction/p  
p style="text-align: left;"It's a normal morning in the castle when Ariel gets a knock on her door. "Oh, come in, what's the matter?" asks Ariel./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Well, princess, it's your father, he's he's dead." /p  
p style="text-align: left;"Ariel then asks the messenger to go fetch Eric which he does and brings him to her. /p  
p style="text-align: left;""What's wrong, my dear?" asks Eric concerned./p  
p style="text-align: left;""My father, he's dead. I need to return home, but how?" /p  
p style="text-align: left;""Well," says Eric rubbing his neck, "you could use Ursula's necklace, I kinda had the shipwreck salvaged and the necklace recovered and brought to the castle." He then walks over and hands it to Ariel. "Now go home and to the funeral." /p  
p style="text-align: left;"Ariel nods and runs off to the sea, puts on the necklace, and jumps in, her tail returning as soon as she hits the water. Eric then watches her swim off from a perch on the balcony. "Be safe, my love." All of a sudden, Melody sneaks up behind her father./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Daddy, where's mommy?" asks Melody confused. "She was supposed to take me to tea this afternoon." /p  
p style="text-align: left;""Something came up," responds Eric./p  
p style="text-align: left;""What came up, daddy?" asks Melody insistingly./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Fine, her father's funeral and to bring her sisters out of exile and home to a new kingdom, a new Atlantica." /p  
p style="text-align: left;""Well, I hope she'll be safe," responds Melody./p  
p style="text-align: left;""I do too, my dearest daughter, I do too." He then takes Melody by the hand and takes her to tea in her mother's place. /p  
p style="text-align: left;"Meanwhile in Atlantica, Ariel soon finds and frees her sisters from an aweful prison and they then go and attend their father's funeral together. After that, they and the mermaids and mermen swim off to find a new home and after several months, they find one that they happily name Mermista. Ariel then leaves her eldest sister in charge and returns to the surface. There, she takes a ship back to Eric's kingdom and is reunited in a sweet family hug by Eric and Melody./p  
p style="text-align: left;""I missed you, momma," says Melody with a smile./p  
p style="text-align: left;""And I, you," responds Ariel as she gives her daughter a kiss on the head. They then go in after watching the sunset together as a family. /p 


	2. More Trouble on the Way

A few days after her father's funeral, Ariel gets a note from her sisters in Mermista in a bottle washed ashore on the beach. "Dearest sister," reads Ariel, "Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Attina, Adella, and Alana here. Some outsiders, pirates, have been spotted on the outskirts of the city by our merman and mermaid scouts. We need help, backup, fast. I know we don't normally ask humans for things, but we could really use the help of your army and navy. Yours truly, your sisters who love you oh so dearly."

Ariel then goes inside and brings the request to Eric and his generals and captains in a meeting. "Men," says Ariel, "the merpeople are under attack and need the help of your ships and soldiers. Pirates are trying to take over the new mermaid kingdom of Mermista and they're basiscally defenseless."

"Of course, we'll help princess," responds the Captain. "How many ships and men?"

"Ten ships, five thousand to ten thousand men," responds Ariel. Eric then butts in.

"I think we should double it, my love," responds Eric.

"You heard him, Eric knows what is best."

Later that same day, the twenty ships and ten thousand men are sent out to protect Mermista and its residents from the pirates. Ariel, taking back to her mermaid form with Ursula's necklace, leads the way with Eric's ship right behind her.

Meanwhile in Marista, the mermaids and mermen are doing their best to ward off the pirates but to no avail. Before they know it, Attina and Alana, the first two heirs to the throne are speared and killed. This causes the guards to sneak Adella, Aquata, Arista, and Andrina out of the city. They somehow, by some miracle, do this without a problem.

A few moments later, Eric and his men and Ariel arrive at the city of Mermista and help out in the fight against the pirates. Meanwhile, a messenger tells Ariel the bad news. "Your sisters, Attina and Alana perished before you arrived. Speared to death." Ariel breaks down in tears.

"How? How could this have happened? We're too late. Where are the others?"

"Your other sisters are safe, don't worry," responds the messenger. "The guards got them out safely."

"Wel, that puts my mind at a little bit of ease," responds Ariel. "Can you take me to them?" The messenger nods and swims Ariel out under the darkness of the ships and to the secret location where her sisters are hiding out. There, Ariel happily embraces them in a hug, but is greeted only with frowns and tears. They're still mourning the loss of the two sisters.

"I know my sisters, I'm mourning them too," responds Ariel, "but at the same time, I'm glad you're all safe."

"True," respond the sisters.

"But, but that means as soon as this is over, Ariel, that means I'm to be queen," responds Adella. "I'm third in line after all, or, well, was."

"Well," responds Ariel, "you'll be a great ruler, big sis."

"I sure hope so," sighs Adella. She then swims off into a corner of the safe cave and begins to cry.

Ariel then tries to swim back out of the cave but is stopped by the guard's crossing spears. "Not with pirates out yonder, princess," responds the guard. "We're sorry."

"But, but my husband needs me," responds Ariel bursting into tears.

"He has his men, he's fine," responds the guard. "You'll be reunited with him soon enough. We promise." Ariel thanks them and returns to the inside of the cave and sits there and pouts. All she can do now is hope that Eric and his men can finish off the pirates soon.

Several days later, maybe about fifteen, the pirates are soon fended off and retreat back to where they came from after throwing their dead into the sea. Eric, on the other hand, takes his dead men home and buries them in a heroes burial along the beach. Ariel and her sisters soon leave the cave and swim towards Eric's kingdom escorted by the merman guard. There, Ariel gives each sisters a specialized piece of Ursula's necklace to wear just in case they ever need to come to the surface world for safe harbor. Ariel then sahres a tear filled hug with her sisters.

"Goodbye Queen Adella, and my other sisters, Aquata, Arista, Andrina."

"And goodbye dearest Ariel," they say before letting go of her and being escorted back to Mermista where later that same day, Adella takes the throne as the first queen of Mermista. All the same, Ariel can't help but feel with a new ruler on the throne, there is surely more trouble to come her family's way and that's what scares her most.


	3. Are You Okay, Momma?

The next morning, about noon, Melody comes into her parents room and plops down on the bed waking up Eric and Ariel. "Oh, hey Melody," sighs Ariel with a groan. "What time is it?"

"It's about noon, mommy," responds Melody. "It's time for you and daddy to get up. We're supposed to do a family picnic today. Remember?"

"Okay, okay," sighs Ariel. She then gets up and gets dressed. As she watches her mother, Melody notices a frown across her mother's face.

"What's wrong, mommy?" asks Melody.

"My sisters died a few weeks back at the hands of pirates, and I, we were too late to save them," responds Ariel, tears rolling down her cheeks. At the sound of Ariel crying, Eric wakes up and goes over and comforts her before getting dressed himself.

"That's enough, Melody," says Eric, "go wait on us outside." Melody huffs but obeys, storming out the room.

A few moments later, Eric and Ariel come of the room in their picnic wear and take Melody in a carriage ride to the beach for their family picnic. There, Melody mentions nothing to her mother nor says anything for the most part but instead goes off to collect shells and sand dollars.

"I know she didn't mean to make me cry or hurt my feelings," sighs Ariel. "She's just a child. They're not necessarily known for their tact."

"My love, she's almost fifteen," responds Eric, "she's no longer a child."

"I know what you're thinking and no, we're not sending her off to boarding school, don't even try suggesting it," responds Ariel with a stern look.

"No, I would never recommend that," responds Eric.

"Don't mention betrothal either," responds Ariel. "She's still too young for that."

"Then what do you suggest?" responds Eric

"Take away her mermaid privileges for a good bit of time," responds Ariel. "You know it's the one thing she cares about most."

"True, true," responds Eric. "But that power comes from your father's music box and mother's locket. How do we take those away from her?"

"Simple, say we're taking them to the gold smith to get them fixed," responds Ariel.

Eric sighs and goes and takes the music box and locket and takes them and locks them away in his father's secret vault until Melody learns to behave herself. All the while, he can't help but feel bad about it, but at the same time, he knows Ariel is right. He also knows it goes farther than just hurt feels, but also towards a want to protect her daughter from the same fate of her own sisters. As a mother, that is the last thing she would ever want for her daughter, to be a lifeless body on the end of a pirate's spear.


	4. A Murder Plot Against the New Queen

A few days later, Ariel gets a surprise visit from her sisters on the shore of Eric's kingdom. The girls then hit their necklaces and transform into humans and come ashore where Ariel gets them inside and into clothes before they begin to chat. "We fear someone is plotting against Adella's life. Someone or some merperson wants to assassinate her."

"Oh dear," cries Ariel. "What are the guards and kingdom doing to protect our sister?"

"Her escorts and guards have been upped and given more training," respond the sisters, "but that's it so far."

"Well," responds Ariel, "who do they think is actually going after her?"

"Legend is the King Sea Dragon is back from his slumber and attempting to wipe out mermaid kind again," responds Aquata. "But that's still only folk tale at this point, no real evidence is there to back it up so far."

Meanwhile, back in his lair, the King Sea Dragon is plotting a way to kidnap the new queen of Mermista and how he's going to kill her as well as the rest of her king. "How?" hisses the King Sea Dragon. "How do you kill a Queen and princesses with no merpeople knowing?" He lets out another hiss. "Do they still think me legend, folk tale? If so, that's my way in. Perfect. Perfect."

"Yes, your highness, no one knows you're still alive, use that to your advantage," responds his slave, the girls' old governess, Marina Del Rey.

"I plan to, you dult!" screeches the King Sea Dragon. "Now back to work!"

"Ugh, yes sir," sighs Marina.

"Not a sir!" screeches the King Sea Dragon.

"Yes your high and mightiness," sighs Marina in response. She then gets back to her tasks at hand.

A few hours later, a bottle washes up on teh shore and the sisters fetch it and read the letter. "Dear princesses, your suspicions about it being the King Sea Dragon are correct. We found some of his scales and shed teeth outside the kingdom's walls as well as found your old governess missing from her coral home not far from the destruction of Atlantica. Our scouts found her house ransacked and ruined. She struggled from what we could tell, but ended up being taken and presumably turned into a slave or killed. We don't know which yet. Sincerely, the royal guard scouts."

"Oh no," say the sisters in shock. They then burst into tears, now scared for their own lives.

"So it is true," says Ariel, "he wishes to take down our new kingdom, new monarchy, and all menfolk kind. What are we to do?"

"If only we knew," respond the sisters. "His scales are near impenetrable making him near impossible to kill."

"Then we have to find another way to get rid of him," responds Ariel. "How is anothe question entirely."


	5. A Queen in Hiding

Meanwhile, back in her hiding hole, Queen Adella swim paces back and forth. "So let me get this straight, the Sea Dragon King is after me and wants to kill me, my sisters, and the rest of our kind."

"Yes, your highness," responds the guard, Captain Delta.

"Thanks," responds Adella, "now how long do you think I will be stuck here?"

"We don't know for sure," responds Captain Delta. "We are just doing our job, your highness, and that is keeping you alive. Don't worry, your sisters are safe on shore with your sister, Ariel."

"Well, that gives me some comfort at least," responds Adella with a frown and a sigh. "When will they locate and kill the evil monster? In Poseidon's name, when?"

"Again, we don't know for sure," responds Captain Delta, "we don't even know where his lair is."

Meanwhile, back at Eric's kingdom, he, Ariel, Aquata, Arista, and Andrina sit down to talk over the current situation.

"So what you're saying is a giant sea dragon tyrant is trying to kill your sister, the newly crowned queen of Mermista, Queen Adella?" says Eric.

"Yes, exactly," responds Aquata.

"And it's getting pretty bad to the point we're not to return to the sea at any point, just as we promised," adds Arista.

"Yeah, we don't even know the location of where Captain Delta has Adella, which means she's likely safely hidden away, hopefully," adds in Andrina.

"Well, at least she's safe, for now," responds Ariel. She starts to cry. "Let's just hope she stays safe. Now if you don't mind excusing me a minute."

Her sisters nod and excuse her from the room with Eric running out after her.

"Ariel, love, what's wrong?" asks Eric.

"I've already lost my father, my two eldest sisters, now this, I just can't take it anymore," she cries.

"Well, we're here with you now. Me, your other sisters, we all have your back."

"Well, thanks," says Ariel. Her tears beginning to dry up and go away. The two then reenter the meeting hall and continue their discussion.

"Okay, what else do we know?" Eric and Ariel inquire together.

"Well, the Sea Dragon King has del Rey, either alive or dead and he's killed mermaids and mermen in the past, almost to extinction. That's basically it," respond the sisters. "That's all we have to work with right now. We're sorry."

"That's fine," responds Ariel. "Knowing your guards, they're on it and will get more information to us soon."

"Yeah, let's hope," respond the sisters. The meeting then breaks for the night and everyone goes to the castle dinner hall to enjoy dinner together. Melody even gets to meet her aunts for the first time in her life which she couldn't be more happy about. At least, there's some joy amongst all the turmoil and pain. That's all Ariel could truly ever ask for.


	6. The 1st Message in the Bottle

A few days later, Ariel and her sisters get a letter in a bottle from under the sea in a small alcove outside Mermista. It's from the guard. "Dear Princesses," reads Ariel to her sisters, "the Queen is safe and in hiding with as much protection as mermanly possible. We also found some new clues as well. Del Ray's house was raided when she was taken by the Sea Dragon King. His dragon guard were looking for something. We don't know what yet but we hope to know soon. Don't worry about any of it, princesses. We've got everything under control. The Guard of the Queen."

"Well, that's a relief," sigh the sisters in unison.

"Agreed," responds Ariel. "Now how about we talk more about this over lunch?"

"Sounds good," responds Aquata.

"Yeah, yeah, that's nice," adds Arista.

"I love kelp salad," says Andrina.

"Not kelp salad here," responds Ariel, "kale salad. Eric's father is on a health food kick as of recent."

"Oh, delightful," moans Andrina with a frown. They then walk into the castle dining hall where they are greeted with the kale salad followed by fresh crab bisque.

"Hm," says Andrina, "kale isn't that bad actually."

"Yik," moan the rest of the sisters.

They then get back to enjoying their crab bisque. "So," says Ariel. "How long are you guys staying on the surface?"

"Until the Sea Dragon King thing is dealt with permanently," they respond, "per Adella's request."

"Well, in that case," responds Ariel. "I know Melody's gonna enjoy some quality time with her aunts."

"Yay! Time with Aunties!" squeals Melody from her seat.

"Now go play with your niece," says Ariel with a smile. Her sisters then eagerly run off after the twelve year old.


End file.
